Canon Background

Rose meets Finn as he's trying to leave the Resistance ship, currently under attack from the First Order. Initially star struck, Rose uses a tazer on him when she realises that he is trying to abandon the Resistance. She doesn't trust Finn but together they come up with a plan to stop the First Order's pursuit, travelling to Canto Bright to find a master code breaker.

Although their plan fails following their infiltration of Snoke's ship, Rose and Finn return to the Resistance on Crait. During the First Order's final attack, Finn ignores Poe's order to retreat and appears to have resigned himself to death. Rose intervenes, crashing into Finn's ship with her own, knocking him off course. She kisses Finn as she reaches the wreckage.
Finn and Rose escape with the remnants of the Resistance aboard the Millennium Falcon.

Fandom

Fan Reaction and Accusations of Racism

In the lead up to the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, sexist crticisms of Kelly Marie Tran and racist comments appeared online. This included Rose's character page on Wookiepedia having been edited to include racial slurs and offensive language.[1]

Following the release of the film, Antis disliked Kelly Marie Tran's pro Reylo stance. Some fans also dislike Rose and the pairing of Finn/Rose Tico because they view it as anti-black and misogynistic, leading to Finnrose works not been accepted by one Finn Appreciation Week in 2018.[2] This criticism arises from Rose using a tazer to subdue Finn during their first meeting. This has resulted in a lot of wank, with fans of Rose believing she is been unfairly denegrated due to racism, either conscious of subconscious, within the fandom.

In June 2018, Kelly Marie Tran deleted all content on her social media with many media outlets and Last Jedi director, Rian Johnson blaming toxic Star Wars fans for harassing Kelly off instagram.[3][4] Somewhat ironically many fans took to social media sites to show their support for Kelly and her portrayal of Rose Tico. Tags included #Fanart for Rose, #I Love Rose Tico and #I Stand With Tran. Black Series Rebels posted A Message to Kelly Marie Tran in which Star Wars fans from around the world express their appreciation for Kelly.

Shipping

Rose is most commonly paired with her canon love interest Finn. The femslash pairing of Rey/Rose Tico is also popular, despite these two characters not sharing any scenes together in The Last Jedi.

Example Fanworks

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.